Google Cloud, a subsidiary of Alphabet (NASDAQ:) Inc, today announced that Spotify (NYSE:) Technology and Paramount Global have adopted its new Axion processor, built using technology from Arm Holdings, to improve their services streaming.
The Axion chip, now available to all Google Cloud customers, marks an important milestone for the company as it joins the ranks of leading cloud providers using Arm-based technology. The move positions Google Cloud to compete for software developer budgets alongside established players such as Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:) and Advanced Micro Devices.
Arm-based processors, including those developed by Amazon (NASDAQ:).com and Microsoft (NASDAQ:), as well as those from Ampere Computing used by Oracle (NYSE:).cloud services, are growing in popularity due to of their energy efficiency. Google’s Axion processor is said to be about 60% more energy efficient than traditional processors, allowing energy savings to be redirected to other computing tasks, including artificial intelligence applications.
Mark Lohmeyer, vice president and general manager of Google Cloud’s Compute and AI Infrastructure, highlighted the importance of the Axion chip, saying: “This isn’t the first Arm instance we’ve made available in the cloud, but I would say it’s the first Arm processor that Google has designed, and the first that we’ve fully integrated into Google’s overall infrastructure portfolio.”
Before making the chip available to external customers today, Google Cloud was already using Axion processors for its own paid cloud services. Although Google Cloud will continue to support its existing Arm-based offerings from Ampere, Lohmeyer indicated a strategic shift to favor its own Arm-based chips for customer use in the future.
